News Daily: Zimbabwe violence and Australian gay marriage

Zimbabwe military action ‘not a coup against Mugabe’

The military in Zimbabwe has insisted it is not staging a coup against President Robert Mugabe, after it took control of the national broadcaster. Heavy gunfire and artillery have been heard in the capital Harare, while armoured vehicles have been placed on roads outside the city. Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo read out a statement on TV, saying the army was “targeting criminals around” 93-year-old Mr Mugabe, who were “causing social and economic suffering in the country”.

The latest events came hours after Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu-PF, accused the country’s army chief of “treasonable conduct”, after he warned of possible military intervention following the sacking of the vice-president.

Australians vote to allow same-sex marriage

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he wants to pass a law allowing gay marriage by Christmas, after the country’s voters backed the idea in a poll. The non-binding postal vote saw 61.6% supporting the idea, with 79.5% of those eligible taking part. It followed years of bitter debate on the issue, with supporters and opponents accusing each other of bullying and misleading.

Ministers see off early Brexit bill challenges

MPs are to begin a second day of detailed scrutinising of the government’s EU Withdrawal Bill. On day one, ministers saw off challenges. Amendments tabled by Labour – on workers’ rights and the environment – will be discussed later. Meanwhile, several Conservative MPs have criticised the government for setting 23:00 GMT on 29 March 2019 as the specific time and date for Brexit, with the Daily Telegraph reporting that up to 15 of them could vote against it. One of the MPs, Anna Soubry, accused the newspaper of “bullying”.

California gunman kills four in rampage

A gunman has gone on the rampage in California, killing four people and injuring 10. Officials say the shooting, in Rancho Tehama, about 120 miles (195km) from Sacramento, began as a “domestic violence incident”. Police shot dead the gunman, who tried to get into a school.

Why I donated my eggs

By Elaine Chong

At university, a professor told us that egg banks wanted young, healthy women who were well-educated, but that there was a real shortage of women of colour. I thought about people like me – from a Chinese background – who might have fertility problems and want to have children really badly. I thought about my gay male friends who spoke at length about wanting to be good parents and how my gift could help them, too. The professor talked about how each egg could be worth up to $3,000 (£2,280) which made the lecture hall go: “Ooooooh!”

What the papers say

Brexit dominates once more, with the Daily Telegraph showing photographs of the 15 Conservative MPs it accuses of being “mutineers” – by opposing setting in law a date for leaving the EU – on its front page. The Daily Express says Labour is secretly plotting to “derail” Brexit, while the Guardian reports that more than 400 fake Twitter accounts were run from Russia in an effort to influence the outcome of last year’s referendum. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail calls the UK a “nation of pill-poppers”, saying half of the country’s pensioners are taking at least five drugs a day.